26
Oct

The Future of Social Media Advertising

The use of social media continues to rapidly increase around the world, and with it, social media advertising keeps growing as well.

Revenue from social media platforms is expected to reach $10.3 billion worldwide, according to social media statistics from Gartner, Inc., a business, information technology and media research firm in Stamford, Connecticut. This represents a 41.4 percent increase over 2010’s revenue totals of $7.3 billion. Gartner experts foresee consistent overall growth, predicting revenues of $14.9 billion by 2012 and $29.1 billion by 2015.

With the substantial growth of the social media sector comes increased interest in social media as an advertising vehicle. Advertising continues to be, and is expected to remain, the largest source of revenue for social media outlets, Gartner experts say. Revenues from social media advertising are expected to reach $5.5 billion in 2011 and expand to $8.2 billion in 2012, according to Gartner social media statistics.

Marketers are expected to move away from the strategy of placing an ad one time and relying on interest in that single ad to bring them clicks and leads. Instead, notes Neha Gupta, a Gartner senior analyst, marketers will move to create an “ongoing engagement” with social media users. Intensifying the level and frequency of contact and interaction with their potential audience means that online marketers will necessarily “allocate a higher percentage of their advertising budget to social networking sites,” Gupta states.

The reason for this increased focus, Gupta says, is “because social networking sites, with the help of social analytics firms, are able to unlock the interconnected data structures of users — mapping lists of friends, their comments and messages, photos and all of their social connections, contact information and associated media.”

Social Strategy1’s research and analysis services can help you discover the business connections and data structures of social media users’ online interactions. With social media growing at a rapid rate, our services can help you increase market share, find new customers in new audiences and make the online world aware of your brand and your services. Contact us today to discuss how we can help your business succeed online.

Michael F. Lewis II is a Social Media Consultant and Marketing Analyst for Social Strategy1. He contributes several blogs weekly to the SS1 site. Connect with Michael on Twitter via @mlewii.